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Monday, May 30, 2016

Bolt Action Battle Report: USSR vs USA

Been a while since I have posted up some battle reports.. mostly cause it has been a while since I have played any games.

But thankfully new blood is getting into the game, and thus new opportunities to play ( and not having to resort myself to going to tournaments to play more games ).

This time is was a new Russian force vs my American force. My Americans force was basically the same list I had taken to a recent tournament in Brighton where it got a tied 6th placing with 2 wins and a third game loss.

The mission was Top Secret.. a great one for us as neither of us had any transports. So this was going to be quite the bloodbath in the middle as infantry units scramble to kill each other to capture it. The big blue dice being the objective here, and turn counter at the same time!

Since everything is in reserves, it makes things more interesting to see how it all comes out on the table. For me I focused a lot of troops on my right, behind cover where possible. My Jeeps trying to set up to make some good fire lines as well, and my M16 that did get on the board ( the other had engine troubles apparently and stayed off a turn ) would attempt to hold things down near the objective.

Problems arise right in the beginning though with the AC from the Russians immobilising my M16 where it was and putting quite a few pins on it.

The Russians were for the most part unscathed, except for a pin or 2 on the mortar team from the MMG Jeeps.

Turn 2 saw a lot of advancing. I had a plan on how to deal with this, as I have played this scenario a few times now and seen the best ways to approach it. I knew I would need to swarm the objective as much as possible, and to create levels for him to go through to grab it. That and being able to hand it off between units later on would be required as well.

So my Marine units on my right move up, supported by the dog, and Lieutenant. My second M16 rolls on, and another unit sits between them. The Bar unit in the middle displaces itself from cover, and the last Marine unit hops into the next building closest to the objective. With the dog team and commander creeping up on the objective to nab it in turn 3.

For the Russians, he is still a bit a ways back, which is smart. He is setting up some nice gun sightlines to the objective and waiting to cause maximum damage to me when I pounce on the thing. though his shooting is largely ineffective at this range with all the inexp troops he has, and his veterans being also out of range for the most part ( many SMGs and Panzerfausts kicking around there ).

Turn 3.. the trap is sprung! My boys race towards the objective, swarming all angles around it. Creating a nice opportunity for him to kill a lot of things.. however he then brings his AC a bit too close and blocks a lot of the firing chances here!

My newly brought on M16 did go boom however from his AT guns, while my Jeeps whittle down his right flank slightly. Not enough to do a lot of damage but enough to cause some issues.

And my Marines set up for a huge game of pass, with the hopes for a Turn 4 victory. Lieutenant to BAR unit, to SMG unit to off the table is the plan for Turn 4.. and one that my opponent is only beginning to realize the idea of..

Turn 4.. plans are put into motion.. but as soon as the first hand off occurs.. my opponent realizes in fear what I have set up, and scrambles to get them stopped! Pumping a lot of shots into the furtherest unit but only after they received the objective there. Putting just 1 pin on the unit.. which turns out to be just enough to make them fail their ability to move, and going down instead! The Russians have ensured that the objective is no longer going off on Turn 4, and have pushed the game to a potential tie now..

So in panic mode I began to pile even more troops into the middle to try to create a way to block him from getting to my units, and am hoping that I can find a way to get that unit with the objective moving once more.

Turn 5.. Well seems the Russians were a bit overzealous in their attempt to add more pins to the unit with the objective, and instead of adding pins, wiped them out completely. Leaving the objective now in the open near 3 full units ( 1 USMC unit, and 2 Lieutenants ) to pick up at the end of the turn.

A mad scramble to block his troops further goes into play here, with us checking if his Armored Car could run me down, but alas it was not to be. Though it didn't help any that the M16 just put 5 pins on it thanks to a lot of glancing hits and shaken results...

It was at this point that although there as much blood spilt in the center, it was just a point of moving my unit off the table with the objective on Turn 6, to which I received the first pin.

A very close game, and a nice back and forth happening there. Looking forward to the rematch tomorrow.. but will be bringing out the Canadians at the Russian players request. So should be seeing a few more veterans on the table, and a lot less troops.

Thanks Clint. I am quite a fan of the rules only because it harks back to the early days of Warhammer 40k for me, but simplified ( sort of ). And am just writing my list for tonights game.. should be interesting match up as I switch gears completely and try something new!